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Avril Franklin
'Avril Franklin '(March 14, 1960 - January 12, 2019) was an English punk rock vocalist and guitarist who rose to prominence fronting The Bloodsuckers, which she formed in 1975. She became an instant fixture in the early St. Hopes punk community for continuously wearing the same purple jacket and school uniform underneath, mostly due to the fact she didn't have enough money to buy clothes. She was a massive influence on gothic rock fashion of the subsequent decades. She died from a heart attack on January 12, 2019, aged 58. Early life (1960-1974) Avril was born Jenny Huxley-Golden in at the St. Hearts Base Hospital on March 14, 1960. Throughout much of her early life, Huxley-Golden lived in a council flat with her mother and father. She was often bullied in primary school, berated by teachers and physically beaten by other girls due to her poverty status, a situation which she cites as conjuring up the anger she displayed on stage. Due to this bullying, she developed a vicious troublemaker personality, which ultimately ended up in her expulsion from St. Hearts Primary School. The Huxley-Golden family moved to nearby St. Hopes in 1968, where she befriended various other kids at her new school, including many of her future punk friends. According to her, she was first exposed to music that very same year, at age eight. She often went over to Cole's (then known as Oscar Dixon-Halliday) house to listen to music, as her family had no money to buy records. She began listening to other bands, such as The Who, The Rolling Stones, The Doors, The Yardbirds and Vanilla Fudge, gaining immensely willing to start a band when she grew up. She spent the next few years studying the rock bands she listened to, and said she was emotionally distressed upon hearing about the death of Jimi Hendrix in September 1970. She began getting involved in music herself when she began learning guitar in 1972. She learned enough chords to suggest to Oscar the idea of forming a band, but both wound up changing their minds after concentrating more on their education. She loathed her teachers, but socialized regularly with her growing circle of new friends, who were also poverty-stricken. She entered St. Hopes High School in 1973; where the punk scene there would coalesce. Along with her new friends, she befriended even more who were into alternative music. Around the same time, the New York Dolls released their debut album, which had a massive impact on the St. Hopes kids, who were heavily paying attention to the glam rock scene. Inspired by the new glam rock scene she discovered, she gave herself a proto-gothic makeover and rechristened herself Avril Franklin, which came from two names she found in a novel. She immediately became popular with the rest of the students for her style, and it led to her befriending Tracy Beaker, whose real name was Dani Harmer, a self-admitted 'science nerd'. In March 1974, she got together with her primary school friend Timothy Hinklebottom, on drums, and Beaker, on bass, to form what is considered the first English punk band ever; Officially Pronounced Dead. The name was inspired by a clue pertaining to the 'Paul Is Dead' urban legend, in which a patch worn by Paul McCartney in the gatefold photo of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band reads "O.P.D", believed to be 'Officially Pronounced Dead', thereby 'confirming' McCartney's apparent death in 1966. According to all three, none of them formed the band with the intention of starting something new. The band recorded a demo tape in May 1974, which contained the songs: "Baby Doll", "I Got High Off My Exam Worksheet", "Avril's Bullshit #1", "Avril's Bullshit #2" and "I Want To Pete Townshend My Guitar On My Headmaster's Head". They broke up in June 1974. Tracy went on to form Tracy And The Beakers, while Avril and Timothy formed The Cunt Sniffers in November of 1974, with Oscar (guitar) and Donovan Butler (bass). Avril occasionally preformed vocals; on occasions such as the band's opening of their venue No Cunt's Land on December 1, 1974, Oscar handled all vocals. After performing with the band for a few months, she left in February 1975. In March 1975, she met Clare Thomas, who had recently rechristened herself as Ingrid Dracula and donned a vampire style. The two loved the same music, and decided to form a band, which they dubbed The Bloodsuckers. They recruited Ingrid's boyfriend, Will Clarke, as bassist, and initially Robin Branaugh on the drums; however a massive argument with Avril caused Robin to leave in May 1976, and he then formed Zyklon BX shortly afterwards.